Areas Near Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant Gradually Returning To Normal

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 (Bernama) -- The areas surrounding the earthquake-stricken Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in northern Japan are gradually returning to normal, says TEPCO Power Grid Inc Executive Vice-President Dr Hiroshi Okamoto. During his presentation at a keynote session on Electricity Supply Industry Digitalisation and Industrial Revolution 4.0 on the second day of the three-day Conference of Electric Power Supply Industry Conference (CEPSI) 2018, he took the opportunity to provide an update on efforts related to the decommissioning of the nuclear plant that was hit by a massive earthquake on March 11, 2011. Dr Okamoto, who is responsible for corporate planning and management reform at TEPCO said the company had undertaken measures to decontaminate the surrounding environment to safer levels. Some of the revitalising efforts for the local communities near the nuclear plant include reviving a football stadium known as the J-Village Stadium that had been used as a temporary shelter for workers involved in decommissioning the plant over the last seven years. Last month, an estimated 7,000 local residents had booked the stadium for various activities. The J-Village Stadium was opened in 1997 as Japan's first national training centre for football. It was built and donated to Fukushima Prefecture by TEPCO. Following the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the sports venue was used as an operational base for workers at the crippled power plant. Some 410,000 employees had been engaged in revitalisation promotion activities while another 280,000 employees were involved in decontamination-related activities between January 2013 and April 2017. TNB is hosting CEPSI 2018 on behalf of The Association of Electricity Supply Industry of East Asia and the Western Pacific. -- BERNAMA